After a particularly beautiful batch of Brookside Farm’s Meyer lemons arrived last week, we followed up with Welling Tom to find out what else is going on at their Brentwood, CA farm. Here’s what he had to tell us:

Our Meyer lemons are some of the few things we currently have available. We also have a few Oroblanco pomelos already picked, and available as long as supplies last. Growing in the field, we have fava beans, green garlic (now available), broccoli, and Lacinato kale. Fava beans are a slow-growing crop, and will not mature until April or May. The cole crops (broccoli and kale) have been producing since October, but not quite as much as we had hoped. A major problem has been the Bagrada bug, an invasive species of beetle that was not found in the western United States until 2008. So far, Brookside Farm has not taken any measures to combat this pest. Aside from that, there all the usual pests like gophers and cabbage moths.

We were hoping to have other crops available this season. Most cold season crops should be planted by October, but we failed to get that done merely because of some breakdowns on our tractor. These have been mostly remedied, but doing so took away the time that should have been spent in actually preparing the land for planting. So that opportunity was lost. But we still have a chance to plant new crops for the late winter. Our neighbor, Peter Wolfe, whose family has farmed here for over 70 years, has kindly lent me his disc harrow, which has allowed me to till a large area more quickly and effectively than I could with our rototiller. The current weather has been fairly dry, and at least partly sunny, so we should be able to get some arugula, turnips, spinach, and sugar snap peas planted soon, and we should be able to prune our fruit trees without too many delays.

Although we have had our share of setbacks, we are grateful for what we do have, for what we are still able to do, and for the support of our community of friends (including our customers at the farmers’ markets and restaurants such as Oliveto) and neighbors. We look forward to a brighter New Year.

Video edited by Dallas Mark

As in the past, Joe Schirmer of Dirty Girl Produce has planted two waves of his famous dry-farmed tomatoes, and the first wave which started coming in at the end of August is currently just hitting its peak. And word is definitely getting around.

Yesterday at the Derby Street Farmers Market, Dirty Girl Produce’s Early Girl tomatoes completely SOLD OUT. There was this beautiful, jewel-like mound of them…and then in the blink of an eye they were gone.

Thankfully, we’re planning well enough ahead to make sure we’ve got some for next week’s Late-Season Tomato Dinners (Sept. 13-16). One of the first confirmed menu items Chef Jonah has revealed is Early Girl gazpacho over a tomato-basil gelée.

Check out this cool, old book on dry-farming.

Only once or twice a year does a fruit come along that I feel is featured best by serving on its own, without setting it in a composed dessert context.  That time has come with the wonderful Flavor King pluots from Brookside Farm in Brentwood, CA.

Upon their arrival, these pluots perfumed the kitchen, drawing Sous Chef Brian Murphy to the three cases I ordered from farmer Welling Tom.  Burying his face in the box, Brian came up for air and said “it’s like putting your face in a bag of mixed Jelly Beans!”  He and I also agreed the pluots tasted like bubblegum, vanilla, and Hello Kitty erasers.  If all of those things sound bad to you, consider Brian’s analogy: marvelous tropical flowers that seem to have been copied from overblown, tacky plastic flowers.   “It’s like Nature copying bad Art… except when Nature does it, it’s wonderful.”

Juicy, sweet, their golden flesh veined with fuchsia… these pluots are so delightful, I feel compelled only to peel off the tart skin and serve them sliced in a bowl to make for a sublime eating experience. Look for them on the menu this Thursday.

Jenny Raven Pastry Chef

Illustration by Jenny Raven

Be sure to visit the Baia Nicchia blog to learn more about Fred’s unique Cetriolo tomato.

Today marks the first day of Summer 2011 and many signs of the season were on display at the Derby Street Market: fragrant basil, cherry tomatoes from Full Belly, summer squash & those knockout long stem Seascape strawberries from Lucero, and piles of “ripe shamefaced peaches” (had to get in a belated Bloomsday reference) at Blossom Bluff.

But one of the definitive signs that it is truly summer at the Derby Street market is the appearance of our friends from Dirty Girl Produce.  And there they were!  Right next to a freakin’ harp player!

Seems that Santa Cruz was not as waylaid by rain as it was last year, so most of Dirty Girl’s crops were planted on schedule.  Their romanesco was looking particularly lovely today, as well as some smaller bunched broccoli.  Coming up: beans. Lots and lots of beans (haricots vert, romano, cannellini, among others) should be arriving from Dirty Girl Produce within the next few weeks.  And the official statement on dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes?  ETA: 4-5 weeks.

Then we headed over to Rick and Kristie Knoll’s Tairwa’-Knoll Farm where the Oliveto kitchen gets produce such as cardoons, beans, peas, figs, and chicories, just to name a few.   The Knolls traveled to Puglia and did some seed collecting so they could grow plants such as chicories for our use. Rick and Kristie showed us how they combine science and art to cultivate their harvests; they also provided us with what could be the freshest lunch many of us have ever had.

Also very worthwhile is the Knoll Farms website, where the Knolls provide in depth their philosophy, biodynamic methods, and history, and take on modern agriculture.

They’ve arrived.

Yesterday, we saw the first wave of the Lucero Organic Farm’s amaaazing long stem Seascape strawberries at the Derby St. market in Berkeley.  Karen Lucero showed up at 2 p.m. when the market opened, and was sold out within three hours.

Ben Lucero has been growing this same variety of strawberry for years, even after he moved his farm inland from the coast to Lodi.  Ben believes that great strawberries are the product of close attention and judicious watering, not a certain variety, location, or climate.  As a result, Lucero strawberries are a concentration of bright, vibrant flavor.  And a favorite of the Oliveto kitchen.

Fortunately, we were able to snap up a few flats & Chef Jonah has them on the menu already:

Crudo of fluke with basil, strawberry, and almonds; lemon agrumato

The Derby Street farmers market was bustling today, in a pre-Thanksgiving-panic sort of way.  But the sun came out and most of our farmers seemed ready for the hordes.  And Maria Catalan was ready with samples of her salsa.  Catalan Farms has just started selling Maria’s own handmade tomato salsa, tomatillo salsa, as well as organic nopales.

Word on the street is that the weather is predicted to turn quite chilly in the next few days and many areas will more than likely see their first freeze.   This means good-bye early girl tomatoes and beans, and hello broccoli, cauliflower, and all those great winter root vegetables.  Unbelievably, Catalan Farm still has strawberries:

but these are the last of them.  So you’ve got approximately two hours left to get your hands on some before they are gone until next spring.

We have 5 acres of Floriani Red Flint corn growing, and an acre of Otto File.  That’s a lot, possibly 10,000 to 15,000 lbs. of grain.    It will probably be ready for harvest in late September or October, and ready to eat by this winter.   Most of it will be machine harvested, but we’re thinking of trying to harvest some by hand (sounds like a party).   And hopefully, we’ll be selling some of the grain.  More to come on that…

Last year’s crop of Floriani Red Flint polenta is served in the cafe every day and usually available on the dinner menu as well.  The corn is milled fresh and whole grain (or integrale).  So, not only do you get the nutty, distinct flavor of the red flint corn, you also get all of the flavor.

The Rominger Brothers also grew out some Italian wheat varieties for us, as we continue to work with them in our attempt to understand which wheat varieties grow best here in Northern California.   This is a massive yet extraordinarily interesting project.  Stay tuned…

Welling Tom, Brookside Farm:  The unusually persistent rains in February and March were the most problematic.  Most of our spring and summer vegetable crops need to be planted around that time, and our soil remained too wet for decent tilth. Our spring crops (such as sugar snap peas or spinach) were planted in lumpy soil and in greatly reduced volume, and were thus compromised in yield.  Only those crops which were actually planted in the fall (such as broccoli, chards, kale, fava beans and garlic–which is a spring crop as green garlic and garlic scapes), or crops like arugula (which doesn’t require fine tilth) produced much. We had to wait until the middle of April to begin planting our tomatoes in the field.

For our summer tree fruits, it’s been hit-or-miss.  When the trees were in bloom, the bees didn’t fly around to pollinate them if the rain was actually falling or even if the skies were just too overcast (the reason why beekeepers use smoke to sedate the bees before opening up a hive), so those fruit varieties whose blossoms came and went during constant rain (such as the Flavor Supreme pluots and Robada apricots) have failed to produce much fruit.  But if the blossoms did catch a few sunny days (as did the cherries, Blenheim apricots, Flavor King and Flavor Queen pluots, and Asian pears) then they did get pollination, and we will have some fruit, although not as much as in a normal year.

The unusually cool weather of the past couple weeks is slowing down the growth of our summer vegetable crops and the ripening of the cherries.

Brookside Farms can be found at the Montclair Farmers’ Market on Sundays.

Scott Mathieson, Laguna Farm: It is interesting how most people think all farmers love rain.   If your crops are dependent on the rain for all its needs, such as in the Midwest grain belt, these would be ideal conditions.  Here on the west coast, we tend to almost count on the six month drought common for California.  For this farmer in Sonoma county, the heavy rains represent delays in soil preparations contrasted by savings in irrigation costs.  Luckily we have a diversity of soils; from sandy well-drained soils that allow us to farm through the winter, to rich bottom lands that have a narrow band of moisture conditions to work it into plantable seed beds.

Every year is different.  The last two have been marked by very low rainfall in high contrast to the above-average rainfall of this year.  The key is diversity of crops and strategies. Yes, we are effected by this weather and are behind as far as field preparation and crops coming along.

Laguna Farm can be found at the Santa Rosa Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays, the Petaluma Farmers’ Market on on Saturdays, and the Sebastopol Farmers’ Market on Sundays.

Paul Underhill, Terra Firma Farm: This year’s cool spring has basically erased the temperature differential between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. Most gardeners in the Bay know that their tomatoes don’t ripen until August or September, and the longer it stays cool and wet here, the more likely we are to be in the same situation.

Our summer crops are running anywhere from two weeks (zucchini) to possibly two months (melons) late, with our famous tomatoes probably somewhere in between.

We are also having more problems with fungal diseases that we don’t usually experience.

On the plus side, the cool season crops we grow in the spring each year have been enjoying the weather and we expect to have an extended harvest of spring greens, peas, strawberries, etc.

Terra Firma Farm can be found at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market on Thursdays.